Inquiry Sunday at the Centre

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Inquiry Sunday

Sunday, April 2, 2017

Six people were present for the morning session of our Inquiry Sunday. We looked at a video interview with Gilbert Schultz, founder of the Urban Guru Café radio show. Gilbert was being interviewed by Richard Miller on his own show called NeverNotHere. The topic was non-duality, what it is and what its vision of life entails. Richard was adept at raising interesting questions for contemplation and the conversation provided excellent material for our own group discussion and inquiry. Everyone expressed a great appreciation for the material and the group interaction.

For the afternoon session there were four participants. We watched a couple of clips of Krishnamurti responding to written questions from his audiences at public talks in Ojai and Brookwood Park. The questions touched on the issues of being hurt in childhood and how to deal with such hurt as well as a question about the capacity of thought to be aware of itself at the moment of its arising. K went into the issues of the self image and the possibility of awareness within the appearance of a thought in such a way as to provoke some in-depth looking and dialogue in our small group.

It felt like a day of meaningful inquiry with a sense of an ongoing deepening of the understanding.

Krishnamurti Study Group

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Krishnamurti Study Group

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada

Our selection for study this session was from The First and Last Freedom by J. Krishnamurti, Q & A #7 “On Suffering”. The reading and discussion focused on a number of issues such as the difference between pain and suffering and the nature of suffering itself. The emphasis was on exploring psychological suffering rather than just physical pain. Is it the resistance to an experience that is responsible for the experience of suffering? Is the identification with thought and the limited mind the significant factor? Is the true nature of the mind limited or unlimited? We looked into the possibility of a spaciousness arising in the mind which can contain whatever is arising in our experience and be the ground for the flowering of love. The eight participants were fully engaged in the looking and listening, the sharing of questions and insights, and the felt sense of something beyond the limited mind.

Weekend Retreat with Ravi Ravindra

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Self Inquiry and Inner Transformation

Weekend Retreat with Ravi Ravindra

March 10 – 12, 2017

For the fifth consecutive year Ravi Ravindra offered a weekend retreat at the Krishnamurti Educational Centre of Canada. A Ph. D and former professor of physics and philosophy, Ravi resides in Halifax. The retreat opened with a public talk on Friday evening at the Centre in which Ravi addressed the question “What is essential for self inquiry and transformation?” Eighteen people in total were present for the meeting. He spoke of the need to be receptive to the subtle energies and levels of reality that may ordinarily be overlooked. Where are we focusing most of our energies and how can the mind be quiet to receive subtle impressions and insights? Meditation was suggested to be very helpful in this regard. It involves a process of “coming to zero,” or a cleansing of our conditioning. In this we need to go beyond the words of any teaching and contact the reality being pointed to. Teachings are fingers pointing at the moon.

Twelve people attended the rest of the weekend. There were guided meditations on the breath, listening attentively to music, small group interactions around some quotations about self transformation, and a great deal of discussion with the whole group. Topics explored were the need for self study and some of its dangers: it can lead to despair on the one hand and fantasy on the other. Ravi pointed to “direct perception” as being essential. Whatever I become aware of in myself changes in its quality and relationship with me. It was postulated that in order to know the divine we must become the divine. Interesting issues related to culture and self inquiry were presented by Ravi, noting that the Eastern religions and the Abrahamic traditions emphasize very opposite characteristics of the human being, the universal and impersonal vs. the personal and unique. This has profound ramifications in how the societies function and humans interact.

Also included was a short video on the life and teachings of J. Krishnamurti, which was new to some of the participants. Delicious food was provided by Pearson College and we thank Ravi for making another visit to our Centre.

Victoria Krishnamurti Event

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Victoria Krishnamurti Event

Sunday, March 12, 2017

This month’s topic for the Church of Truth meeting was “What is Freedom?” Four of us attended the session. We began with a couple of short clips of Krishnamurti speaking on the subject of study and then formed a circle for group inquiry and exploration. It was emphasized that speaking from our own experience would make the discussion most interesting and relevant as we looked at what freedom means to us and what are some of the challenges to living in freedom. The quality of inquiry was high and the subject became alive in the sharing of our understandings and questions. We came experientially to the point that freedom is beyond words and concepts and transcends the duality of observer and observed.

A video of Rupert Spira was planned to follow the tea break but time had run out and the session was concluded. Future sessions will be held on the first Friday of each month from 7 pm to 9 pm.

Spiritual Inquiry Meetup:  Relationships and Conflict, February 12, 2017  

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This month’s Spiritual Inquiry Meetup at Church of Truth focused on relationships and consideration as to how we relate to one another.  A number of talks were profiled featuring Krishnamurti, Scott Kiloby and Rupert Spira.  There were seven who joined in for this discussion and each brought a different perspective to bear on the topic.  A few of the key messages that surfaced follow.

We tend to relate to one another based on projections we have about each other – our ideas about who our partner is, or stories about their motivations or actions – this prevents a true seeing of one another.  We are only seeing what our mind is creating about the other, rather than the true person.  K. suggests that a deep questioning of those assumptions, and  a deeper seeing is possible when mental projections fall away.

Much of the discomfort and suffering associated with our relationships has to do with ‘under the radar’ needs that we are subtly trying to have met through our partners (e.g. for validation, worthiness, recognition or power).  Kiloby emphasised this and encouraged us to become deeply self-aware of these areas of tension and rather than covering them up or avoiding them, trying to allow ourselves to fully meet these internal areas of fear, stress or anxiety. 

The group had a lively discussion – including strategies for listening and truly being with each other, as well as committing to meeting conflict head on to enable mutual solutions (rather than leaving residual frustrations for a future time).  Of course there also was a question about whether we truly are independent individuals and what relating might be like if all exchanges were born from an experience and deep knowing of inherent one-ness.   

It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon!  Thanks to Robert Keegan for facilitating the gathering.

Stillness Within Meetup: Eckhart Tolle – The Voice Inside Your Head

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Saturday February 11th

The February Stillness Within Meetup was a great chance for seven of us to get together and enjoy a recently released video talk by Eckhart Tolle called The Voice Inside Your Head. This talk was somewhat introductory, as it was given to employees in a large company, many of whom were not familiar with Eckhart’s teachings.

The highlights of the talk included:

  • our tendency to have a constant stream of thought which sometimes serves to strengthen a sense of ‘me-ness’,
    • a description of the process that surrounds much of the suffering we face in life, particularly in situations where the condition (such as losing a job) is somewhat stressful, but the thoughts and stories we tell ourselves about it can tend to create much more fear, anxiety or other kinds of suffering,
    • what can happen when we begin to see that we are not our thoughts – that thoughts come and go within something much more expansive (e.g. a sense of awareness or consciousness), and
    • not taking our thoughts or internal stories so seriously can be a first step towards loosening the likelihood of feeling consumed by thoughts (or strong feelings). This last one is where Krishnamurti would have pointed to a deeper inquiry or observation… to notice the cycle of our own thoughts, where they come from, the patterns, and also the fact that they are always moving through, taking on different forms over time but at times, being seen as insubstantial or fleeting on their own.

Eckhart talked about some practical strategies for developing a conscious awareness of this broader field of beingness that can even go far beyond a sense of self. He described using a simple breath awareness practice, noticing fully as each breath comes in and out. He also described a practice of sensing body aliveness or scanning, starting with the feeling of life in our hands and feet. Finally, when we have more experience, we may be able to allow the thought process to even subside for periods of time. Through these practices, we may begin to widen our aperture of seeing and sensing, such that identification of a finite self becomes less and less dominant… we see ourselves only as part of wholeness.

It was a lovely session, followed by a group awareness meditative practice which all seemed to enjoy.

Thanks to Krishnamurti Centre for hosting us once again.

The First and Last Freedom: On Discipline

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There were five people who joined in for an exploration of Krishnamurti’s First and Last Freedom on February 4th. The chapter which was explored this week focused on discussion of discipline and the pursuit of truth.

This chapter proposed that the mere act of trying to improve oneself (e.g. through discipline) actually serves instead to reinforce some form of new attachment, such as being serene, chaste, generous, accomplished etc. Even the disciplined undertaking of meditation can be an impediment to the flowering of deep knowing, if the practice is a pursuit with expected outcomes or an end.

“Discipline, conformity, practice, only give emphasis to self-consciousness as being something.” P. 162

This concept posed a bit of a paradox for the group to consider in that there certainly are many self-realized sages who have meditated, reflected on virtues, or tried to be more mindful….

With closer reflection, K’s message seemed to point to a discipline of awareness. True intelligence arises through the noticing of our patterns of ‘self’, seeing the forms that envy or doubt take on. Through our observing, these qualities express in changing ways, which can often become lightened in our curious gaze and acceptance. In fact, Krishnamurti suggests a deeper truth may arise in which there is no separation between the controller (self) and that which is being controlled (expression/behaviours)… it’s one phenomenon.

Later in the book (forgive this leap) K. makes this point in a different way: “When you desire to be transformed, you are still thinking in terms of becoming; that which is becoming can never know that which is being“. Truth shines most clearly when we are being, from moment to moment…. “in the smile, in the tear, under the dead leaf, in the vagrant thoughts, in the fullness of love.” ❤️

Thanks to all who came out and to Bill for facilitating.

Awareness In Daily Life, Weekend Retreat

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“Awareness in Daily Life”

Weekend Retreat January 27 -29, 2017

This weekend retreat was facilitated by Lynne Walker and David Bruneau, both of whom have been involved with the Krishnamurti Centre for some years. The idea of the retreat was to create an environment of support for looking and listening to ourselves in a simple and direct way that invited insight and fresh seeing into ourselves. An attitude of questioning and “not-knowing” was encouraged and practiced by the twelve people who attended. The schedule included silent sitting, guided meditations, video and audio featuring Krishnamurti and Toni Packer, some brief handouts for contemplation, group dialogues, and time for quiet walks and rest, journaling and conversation. Meals were provided by Glenrosa Restaurant. The participants were generally very present and attentive to the material and opportunities for exploration that were offered; there was lively and revealing interaction in the dialogue sessions. The question was asked often throughout the weekend, “What is alive in us in this moment?” There was a process of learning how to be with ourselves and whatever is arising as well as how to communicate with each other in a way that supports real inquiry, looking and listening. There were challenging moments for some of the participants, all of which were held in the space of open presence within the group. We learned as we went along. Everyone expressed that the weekend was one of great value and relevance.

Krishnamurti Study Group

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Krishnamurti Study Group

Saturday, January 21, 2017

The subject of study for this session was Q & A # 5 “On Discipline” in The First and Last Freedom by J. Krishnamurti. A questioner had asked K if self-discipline was necessary for moderating the “instincts of the brute in man” in order to realize God. K asked if these tendencies in the human being can be dealt with by suppression, sublimation, control, or by attempting to approximate one’s behavior to an ideal. Is there not a need for a more intelligent response to the issue, a creative response which does not involve the deadening of self-discipline as control. The five participants were asked at the beginning if we could look into the question without preconceived ideas and be open to fresh and new ways of seeing. This was done very effectively and one person commented that we were in fact doing what K suggested as we inquired into the question. There was a sense of discovery and a feeling of wholeness in the group members. A very enjoyable session.

Inquiry Sunday at KECC

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Inquiry Sunday

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Nine people were present on Sunday morning for a video presentation of Mooji guiding a seeker through the process of self-inquiry. The particular interaction had been chosen because of its clarity and depth in dealing with the subject of looking into one’s own nature and thought processes. An intelligent and careful inquiry can reveal false assumptions being believed by “the mind” and obscuring the knowing of our pure Being. Are we not the awareness which perceives everything that arises, no matter what it is? Everything that we perceive is arising in a field of pure awareness which is what we essentially are. It needs no effort or practice to be realized, only the immediate looking at what is here as the ground of all experience. The participants were asked to put into one sentence the essence of what they had understood, something that could be easily remembered and “practiced”. The sharing that followed was interesting and very much to the point.

The afternoon session involved looking at some video clips of Krishnamurti answering questions from the audience at some of his talks. The first question was, “Is suffering necessary to make us face the necessity to change?” K explored the common assumption that suffering is noble and spiritual and went into the deeper causes of our suffering and the possibility of freedom from it. The second question we looked at was “What is enlightenment?’ K explored the issue from a few different perspectives, including enlightenment as understanding an aspect of our lives as well as understanding ourselves very deeply. He also asked who is to claim enlightenment and questioned the validity of such claims. The three participants who had stayed for the afternoon session engaged in some discussion of the questions, K’s responses to them and our own understanding of the issues.